by Dan Mitchell | Apr 26, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Regulations
I’ve already suggested that subsidies for the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development are the most wasteful and counterproductive item in the federal budget. At least on a per-dollar-spent basis. But what about a similar exercise for...
by Dan Mitchell | Jan 12, 2014 | Big Government, Blogs, Government Spending
Every so often, I share stories about the ridiculous and outrageous way in which the federal government squanders our money. So when I saw this New York Post story about the feds pissing away a six-figure sum on condom research, I figured this would be a perfect...
by Dan Mitchell | Feb 17, 2013 | Big Government, Blogs, Regulations
As an economist with a boring personality (sorry to be redundant), I sometimes focus on numbers. And when contemplating the cost of regulation and red tape, there are some numbers that should frighten all of us. Americans spend 8.8 billion hours every year filling out...
by Dan Mitchell | Oct 29, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Free Market, Regulations
I’ve written before about the heavy costs of regulation, including these rather sobering statistics. Or, to be more accurate, here are some staggering numbers. Americans spend 8.8 billion hours every year filling out government forms. The economy-wide cost of...
by Dan Mitchell | Jul 26, 2012 | Big Government, Blogs, Regulations
President Obama recently got himself in a bit of hot water with his “you didn’t build that” remark, which trivialized the hard work of entrepreneurs. But he is right – in a perverse way – about government playing a big role in the life of small businesses. Thanks to a...